M for Money

M for Money...

When I was young, I never dared to ask my parents to fulfill each of my desires. The reason was that my father was the only earning member and we were a family of five. Each one of us was aware of our financial constraints. Being bought up in such an environment taught me valuable lessons about money. I know that money is important. That was my first lesson on the subject.

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But at the same time, my parents were extremely social and they helped every other person who turned to them. Despite their own problems, they never hesitated in helping others. I got my second lesson that money has limited importance. There are many things beyond money. I respect my parents for these two important lessons of life.

My subject is related to finance and so I always start my lecture by asking the students how much money they are carrying with them. In a class of 60, only 5 or 6 students are able to tell me the exact amount of money in their purse / wallet. Then I tell them to do an assignment wherein they would keep record of the pocket money they receive from their parents and expenses incurred on a day to day basis for a period of one month. I discuss with them their monthly expenses and how it is important for them to keep track of it. I realize that most of these youngsters (my students are in the age group 18-21) do not realize the value of money. So I try to convey to them the importance of money. But at the same time I also share with them story of an old bedridden rich man who has lot of bank balance but no one to take care of. Later on he gets murdered by his own relatives because they wanted a share of his property. In this story, the old man had lot of money but nobody to take care of him and that same money turned out to be a reason for him to get murdered. I also tell them that giving too much importance to money would land us in trouble.

Our kids are taught lessons in different subjects, but we fail to teach them basics of money matters. It so happens that their own “experiences in life” would teach them these matters, although they have to pay a heavy price for it. One of my friend who is almost 29 years old, doesn’t know the amount for which his life is insured, and the reason is that his mother has taken the policy for him and she pays the premium also. The son is unaware about the details. Too much is being discussed about imparting sex education in school, then why is it that nobody is talking about teaching financial discipline and value of money to kids? You may become a doctor or an engineer or an architect and start earning money after you finish school, but who will tell you how to use your money? How will you know about financial discipline and financial planning? Are books, workshops and advise from elders /peers enough to impart this knowledge?